


Blue Sparks

by Betsy_Lake



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments (Movies), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-09-30 11:29:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10162151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Betsy_Lake/pseuds/Betsy_Lake
Summary: Magnus and his girlfriend Emmeline Blackhallow are blissfully happy living in Brooklyn, hunting for the best brunch spot by day and saving the Downworld by night, until one evening when their relationship hits a snag... but warlocks can't have children, can they? Magnus/OC. (cameos from TMI characters in later chapters) IN PROGRESS, UPDATED REGULARLY.





	1. Blue Sparks - Chapter 1

Magnus woke as he had most mornings for the past ten years, to the smell of freshly-brewed coffee. He turned over in bed, wrapping the emerald green sheets around him, and stretched out his aching arms as he breathed in the rich, heady scent of caffeinated goodness. Last night had been a late one, he'd spent all of the evening and a good portion of the very early morning dealing with Downworlder drama. One of the newly-turned vampires from the New York clan had had the bright idea of conjuring the Greater Demon Murmus to give him what he'd called 'Rock God music skills'. Apparently, no one had pointed out to the vampire that he was now immortal and had plenty of time to master the guitar. Magnus blamed the impatience of millennials and to a lesser extent, Anne Rice.

After the demon had turned the vampire into a slushy pile of blood and other less-PG13 pieces it made a break for the nearby financial district. Luckily, Magnus had been able to portal to the summoning site and draw the demon back into the void before any mundanes had been killed or injured. Hunting demons was usually the job of Shadowhunters, but a demon summoning taking place on clan territory could mean wider fines or punishments for the rest of the New York group, so the vamps had turned to him. Sending the demon back to whichever hellish dimension it had come from, moderating the memories of the few mundanes who had actually seen it's slithery form and cleaning up the summoning site had taken Magnus much longer than he'd wanted and his whole body still ached from the effort. Still, being the High Warlock of Brooklyn meant he had a duty to help Downworlders in need, and the vampires had paid him an inordinately large sum for his assistance.

He paused for a moment, watching as a few dust motes danced lazily in the light streaming through the large window in his bedroom, then clapped his hands energetically and sprang out of bed. As he left the room he caught sight of himself in the mirror by the door. He eyed himself critically, his normally perfect cloud of jet black hair was tilting precariously to one side and glitter from last night's dramatic eye look was smudged along the hollows of his cheeks. Magnus stared at his reflection. At least he'd been conscious enough to change out of his demon slime-covered clothes before he threw himself into bed earlier that morning, which was something of an achievement. Magnus believed in investing in quality pyjamas and his midnight blue, tiger print silk set was particularly fetching, even if he did say so himself.

He made his way into the apartment's large, open plan kitchen-living room to find the source of the coffee, his girlfriend of ten years Emmeline Blackhallow, but she was… not there. Spinning on his heels he strode down the hall to the bathroom and rapped gently on the wooden door with his knuckles. A weak groan from within confirmed his suspicions. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal his pretty, but currently very pale girlfriend. Her auburn hair, which usually lay fashionably in a long wavy bob just below her shoulders was swept into a messy ponytail and she was wearing a grey t-shirt with the slogan 'Mermaids do it better' across the front, teamed with a pair of his pink, unicorn-patterned pyjama pants.

"Oh," he said softly, worry blooming across his face. He reached over to tuck a tendril of escaped hair behind her ear "Not again". She rolled her grey eyes at him and sighed, leaning against the door frame.

"I know, I slept fine last night and then I was fine this morning and then I was making coffee, and the smell and I just..." She trailed off helplessly.

Magnus frowned with concern. Every day for the past week he'd woken to find Em either throwing up or lying on the couch covered in a multitude of brightly coloured blankets. As a warlock, Magnus didn't suffer from the colds and viruses that often plagued mortals. Something more serious like Demon Pox could cause a problem, but he'd been lucky enough to avoid that one so far. Of course, as a Shadowhunter Em shouldn't be suffering either, but she refused to use an Iratze on herself unless it was absolutely necessary. When he'd asked why, she'd told him sternly that she had chosen not to take part in official Shadowhunter business since moving to Brooklyn, so it would be hypocritical to use a healing rune now to fix a cold. Her sense of moral obligation was just one of the many things he loved about Em, but of course that didn't stop Magnus from worrying about her.

"Are you sure I can't just..." he waved his hands expressively, blue sparks lighting up his fingertips.

"No" Em shook her head and then grimaced at the movement. "Healing takes a lot of energy and I don't want you wasting your magic on something as trivial as the flu. Anyway, I've booked a Doctor's appointment at the clinic near the bar, I'm going tonight on my break."

Magnus shook his head, his eyes serious. "First", he said, holding up a finger "there is nothing trivial about you being unwell, second -" he ticked it off on his hand, "there's no way you're going to work like that, I'll cancel my party and take you to your appointment".

"No way" Em shook her head back at him and then mentally kicked herself as another jolt of pain rocketed through her temple. "I'll be fine by this evening and you've been planning this party for ages, it's important for Downworlder relations" she intoned, mimicking the important voice he'd used when describing it to Maia, the head of the New York werewolf pack.

She raised a hand to her forehead as if to rub away the headache that was rapidly developing. Magnus looked at her carefully before stepping forward and pulling her gently into his arms, smiling as she burrowed into his chest.

"I knew I'd regret taking you to that meeting". He leant backwards and twirled his right hand. Amidst a flurry of blue sparks, a large mug appeared. "Warm ginger ale with honey and lemon," he said offering it to Em. "It's an old mundane remedy, it'll help settle your stomach".

Em grabbed the mug gratefully and took a sip. "You know that counts as magic," She raised an eyebrow at him.

. . .

Em spent the rest of the day on the couch watching Magnus prepare for his party. In between refilling her mug and fetching her more blankets he'd explained rather excitedly that the theme for tonight's soiree was 'Enchanted Garden'. She watched in fascination as he transformed their trendy loft apartment into a woodland glade, replacing the tasteful, eclectic decor with soft green moss, curtains of intricately braided branches and strings of fairy lights. She had started to protest when he conjured a large, flower-shaped fondue pot filled with blood for the vampires, but given up when he'd assured her that the blood had been donated willingly and no mundanes had been harmed in the process. Even after almost a decade of living with Magnus she still found some of the Downworlders' practises a little odd. Of course, she'd had plenty of contact with Downworlders when she'd lived in London, but it was more of a business arrangement than a social one.

Em's parents had never been very involved with the rest of the Shadowhunter community. They'd trained her in combat, taught her the laws of the Clave and allowed her to get her permanent marks, but they'd never interacted with the local Institute or been sent into the field. After they died in an accident when Em was twelve she had been packed off to live with her closest living relative in London. It was a completely different life for her, while her new guardian also maintained a distance from the Shadowhunters at the local Institute, she spent her evenings aiding Downworlders in need.

This was how Em had met Magnus. When she was eighteen he came to them for help after running into trouble with a nest of Ravener demons while trying to recover one of the lost magic texts. Em had helped him clear the nest and find the text. After they had returned home safely, he'd asked her to come back to Brooklyn with him. Some time after, Magnus confessed to her that he'd looked over at her in the midst of battle, fighting off demons with her hair billowing out like a halo around her head, and instantly fallen in love. After spending her childhood in relative seclusion Em was excited at the idea of having an adventure, and if a handsome, kind and incredibly stylish warlock asked her to join him on one, who was she to say no?

At first, they had travelled a lot, Paris, Rome, Russia, Egypt, Istanbul, Japan, Fiji and some exotic island off the coast of Australia which was owned by a warlock friend and not on any map Em had ever seen. Magnus had talked profusely about the charms of Peru and vaguely about how he wasn't allowed to go back there, she suspected he had done something terrible. But after spending long months enjoying each location they'd finally returned to Brooklyn and settled into domestic bliss, or their version of it anyway.

It wasn't the usual nine to five, but as the High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus had a steady trickle of trade from mundanes, Downworlders and very occasionally the Shadowhunters at the New York Institute. His clients kept irregular hours and he often found himself working during the evening, so to keep herself busy Em had taken a couple of night shifts at a local bar where Downworlders drank. Magnus owned the apartment outright so neither of them really needed the money, but they both felt more settled in some form of employment.

Anyway, thanks to years of living with her guardian in London Em had grown up with a strong inclination to help people. At the bar, she could keep an eye on the clientele and send anyone with a serious problem to Magnus. She even helped him with his work occasionally, when he needed a Shadowhunter, and her previous experience with Downworlders made her a useful guest at the meetings Magnus attended with the other New York Downworld representatives. A lot of them still held a deep-rooted mistrust of Shadowhunters so it took them a while to get used to her, but the fact that Magnus so obviously trusted her went a long way.

Somehow, between all of these obligations, they'd fallen into a comfortable pattern of unpredictability and excitement. It wasn't a particularly normal life but Em loved it. The random missions, lazy weekend brunches and spontaneous trips to romantic foreign cities, all while enjoying each other and their time together.

Time was a big factor in their relationship and in the first few years, they had had the discussion. Repeatedly. They'd talked at length about how young Em was, how long Magnus had lived and how she would grow older while he maintained the appearance of a man in his early twenties. He'd asked her earnestly on several occasions if she truly understood everything she was giving up for him, having a family and someone to grow old with. Em had always pictured herself with children and a husband, in some far off 'in the very distant future' kind of way, but if she had to choose between a vague idea of what her life could be and this wonderful, glittering warlock she would make the same choice every time. So, whenever he asked, she replied that she understood what he meant, but she didn't think of it so much as giving anything up, as she did that she was gaining Magnus.

Usually, she'd be helping him host tonight's party, greeting guests and socialising with her boyfriend as she had done for the past few years, but the bar was short-staffed and it was Karaoke night.

Em stood up slowly from the sofa and then smiled, satisfied that she'd managed to get to her feet without a hint of nausea. The ginger-honey concoction Magnus had been plying her with all afternoon had certainly done the trick. She walked over to the kitchen island, which now resembled a large tree stump, where Magnus was currently conjuring colourful drinks in dainty bluebell-shaped glasses and put her arms around his waist. He turned to face her and placed his hands on her shoulders, pausing what he was doing to brush his lips against her forehead.

"Feeling better?" He asked hopefully, rubbing tiny circles into the base of her neck with the soft pads of his thumbs.

"Much better" Em leaned into his chest and inhaling the faint citrus scent of his aftershave. "I need to leave for work soon so I'm going to get dressed, do you need any help getting ready for your party?".

"No," Magnus stepped back, releasing her and swung his arms wide to indicate the decorations with a flourish, "it's quite fabulous already." He glanced down at his pyjama, bemused "My guests will start arriving soon though, I should dress".

He snapped his fingers and a blue flame shot out, engulfing him for a second before extinguishing in a puff of glittering smoke. When it cleared he was standing in an exquisitely tailored pair of black velvet suit pants with a matching jacket, buttoned up to reveal only a flash of smooth golden skin on his chest. A variety of chains and pendants draped from his neck and the smudged glitter and tilting hairdo from this morning had resumed their rightful places. He winked at her playfully and bowed. Em stepped back, admiring his appearance for a moment before heading to the bedroom to get dressed into her black bartender's uniform, the normal way.

"Show off!" she yelled over her shoulder as she retreated.

. . .

The Doctor's surgery was only a couple of blocks from the bar on one of the slightly shabbier sides of town. Em usually did anything to avoid going, the sterile white waiting room, antiseptic smell and weirdly basic healthcare posters (smoking is bad for you!), made her stomach turn, but she'd had this damn flu for over a week now and spending half the day throwing up or sleeping was getting old fast. Luckily this surgery ran a 24-hour service and the 3 am slot was dead. If the appointment went quickly she'd have enough time to help close up the bar and then head home to watch the last party guests on their way out.

When she'd left Magnus he'd been putting the finishing touches to his decorations, enchanting some of the fairy lights to float around the balcony. He'd asked again if she was sure she wanted to go to work and when she'd assured him that yes, she really did, given her a quick kiss goodbye before turning his attention back to his task, waving her off with blue sparkling fingers.

Em sighed, thinking for the hundredth time that she'd much rather be at the party with her beautiful warlock than spending the early hours of the morning here. Thankfully she was only in the waiting room for a few minutes before the receptionist, a friendly lady in her mid-fifties who looked like she'd rather be in bed asleep, called her through. Em didn't blame her, it was far too early to be at work.

As she entered the first office to the right of the waiting area the Doctor stood up from behind his desk to greet her. He was a svelte man in his forties with a dark spray tan, suspiciously smooth forehead and blindingly white teeth, which he flashed at her as he smiled. She had a fleeting impression that he may only be here temporarily pulling a few extra night shifts and that his normal day job probably involved prescribing Xanax to impeccably-dressed women in a swanky surgery on the Upper East Side.

"So Miss Blackhallow", he asked once Em had taken a seat in the hard plastic chair opposite his desk "what can I do for you?". She explained the symptoms of her illness in detail while he watched her patiently with a sympathetic expression, hands clasped before him on the desk. When she had finished he nodded a few times and then cleared his throat. "I think we should do a quick blood test, just to be thorough, and then we'll get you on some antibiotics". He turned to his computer and clicked open a schedule, "It's quiet tonight so if you're happy to wait we can get the results processed right now?". Em weighed up her options. It would be easier to get it sorted while she was here, the bar had been winding down anyway when she'd left and they could always close up without her.

"Ok," she nodded.

She sat patiently while the Doctor called a nurse in to take a blood sample. The nurse, a young Filipino man not much older than Em, raised his eyebrows when she pulled up her sleeve for the needle, but said nothing. Em hadn't bothered to hide her marks over the last few years. Mundanes usually just assumed they were tattoos and that maybe she was part of some sort of exciting gang. She occasionally got an odd glance when she was in public and Magnus had offered to give her a permanent glamour for her skin but she didn't see the point. Most of the time she was standing in the company of a ridiculously attractive, glittery warlock with outrageous clothes. Who was going to notice a couple of tattoos next to that?

After the nurse had finished taking the sample she was sent back outside to wait for her results. She spent half an hour scrolling through her phone, checking out photos from the party which were steadily making their way onto social media, before being called back into the Doctor's office.

"Miss Blackhallow", he gestured to the plastic chair, "please sit down". Em who had been planning to anyway, sat. "I've got your test results back," he glanced down at the paper in front of him "you don't have the flu".

"I don't?" Em's brow crinkled. He'd said it in a way that made her think it must be a good thing. Maybe it was just a cold instead, one where he could prescribe medicine to get rid of it quickly. Or something as simple as food poisoning, that egg dish Magnus had cooked last weekend had tasted a little odd. Her spirits lifted a little.

"No." He looked up from the paper, "In fact, it's good news".

Em felt a weight lift off her chest.

He flashed her another smile with his too-white teeth, "Congratulations Miss Blackhallow," he grinned, "you're expecting".


	2. Blue Sparks - Chapter 2

Em blinked and looked at him blankly. "Expecting what?"

The Doctor smiled at her again. "A baby", he pointed to the paper in front of him as if that was an explanation in itself. "You're about three and a half months in. The flu symptoms you were experiencing were actually just symptoms of morning sickness, it's an easy mistake to make. You seem to have gotten it a bit later than usual but it's all completely normal, just make sure you drink plenty of water. It should stop in a few weeks."

Em stared at him "I can't be pregnant". She blinked again, stupidly. It felt like time was slowing down. Was it hot in here? Did the surgery have air con?

The Doctor's pearly smile faltered. "Ah, but you are", he let out an uneasy chuckle. "Is it… unexpected?" he said the last word hesitantly.

Em had the bizarre impulse to laugh. Seeing as her boyfriend was a warlock and warlocks couldn't have children, like never, ever, have children, unexpected was an understatement. Her heart was thumping, pounding in her ears so loudly she wouldn't be surprised if it beat right out of her chest and on to the desk in front of her. She wondered mindlessly if Magnus could repair an injury like that. The thought of him brought her crashing back to reality.

She forced a small smile. "Um, a little." She said weakly.

"Maybe some information would help?" The Doctor said rummaging in his draw, all traces of a smile gone. Em had the feeling that telling unprepared women that they were unexpectedly pregnant was not how he liked to spend his evenings. He was probably regretting taking those extra night shifts. Em shook her head. Suddenly all she wanted to do was get out of here.

"I'm ok thanks", she said, forcing her smile a little wider. She wondered if it looked as fake as it felt. "I was just a little surprised, but it's fine. I've got to get back to work," she lied "I'll book another appointment with the receptionist on the way out. Thanks for seeing me". She forced the last bit out in a rush and hastily made her way out of the office, leaving the Doctor with a confused expression and a handful of pamphlets.

Deftly bypassing the receptionist, who offered a hearty "Bye dear" in her direction, Em exited the surgery and walked to the closest place she could think of. When she finally arrived she sat down heavily and pulled out her phone.

This bench was one of the first places Magnus had taken her when they'd arrived in Brooklyn. It was close to their apartment, on a bridge overlooking a river where some of the mermaids hung out. Em, who had very rarely seen mermaids during her days in London had spent hours here eating gelato from the Italian place around the corner while watching sunlight glint off of brightly coloured scales down below. It was still one of their favourite activities on hot summer days. Now the street was empty, the water dark and given that it was the middle of the night (or very early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it) the Italian place was closed.

Mind racing, Em switched on her phone and thumbed through her contacts until she found what she was looking for. She clicked the call button, listening to the distant ring a few times before she shook her head and pressed 'end'. She took a deep breath, thumb hovering over the contact, then turned off the screen and pocketed her phone. There was no use in panicking and calling London, she needed to talk to Magnus first.

Once again the thought of the warlock made the knot in her stomach squeeze even tighter. Em realised she had absolutely no idea how he'd react. Usually, she could count on him to be calm, collected, even mature when the situation called for it. He'd once explained to her that when you'd lived as long as he had, you'd seen almost everything at least once and though many things could still delight you, very little could shock you. But this was something neither of them was prepared for.

They'd talked at length about not having children, about how, as a warlock, a family in that sense was something he could never have and Em could never have with him. They'd discussed it over and over and over, and then again, every time one of them had brought up the whole immortal-dating-a-mortal issue. But they'd never once talked about having children. Of course, why would they, when warlocks couldn't have children. Except, apparently they could.

Em sighed loudly. She had to talk to Magnus.

. . .

Magnus sighed loudly as he looked around his loft. The party was in full swing now, guests had been arriving in a steady stream since Em left and so far it was as successful as he'd hoped. Over by the drinks table the head of the werewolf pack was currently exchanging jokes with the vampire clan's second in command, a couple of pixies had enchanted the flowers Magnus had artfully placed around the room to play beautiful, lilting music with a strangely hypnotic beat and although it had taken a little encouragement, couples were finally making their way onto the makeshift dance floor he'd set up on the balcony.

The warlock should be enjoying himself, but he couldn't, not when he knew Em was currently slaving away making drinks and deflecting pick-up lines from drunk Downworlders who hadn't been cool enough to receive an invite to his party. He'd been really worried about her over the past week, he knew flu was common among mundanes, but seeing the person you love in pain, or even just minor discomfort, was always difficult.

Being in a relationship wasn't exactly new for Magnus, he'd been in plenty of relationships, some with men, some with women. He'd dated vampires, werewolves, Seelies, other warlocks and even a djinn or two. He'd dated mundanes too (if you could call it dating) sometimes multiple mundanes at a time, although mostly on a very short-term basis. He'd even had a few serious relationships with mundanes, but most of those ended when they grew older and realised they wanted things Magnus couldn't offer them, like a family or a companion to share their old age with. In over four hundred years, only two of his relationships had lasted until death and the experience of losing someone he loved fiercely was so intensely painful that he had vowed never to put himself in that position again.

And then he'd met Emmeline. For Magnus, it had been infatuation at first sight. He'd always admired Shadowhunters from afar, the fearsome, angelic creatures they were, but he'd never dated one before. At first, he thought she was beautiful and strong, in that delicate fragile way that mortals had always been to him. Then he saw her bravery in battle, how she flew like an avenging angel, burning with a bright, blinding intensity that seemed passed down from heaven itself. That was when he knew he was in love. When he'd asked her to come back to Brooklyn with him he'd been slightly nervous, a sensation he hadn't felt in a very long time, and when she'd agreed he was cautiously delighted, intent on enjoying their adventure together before the inevitable point where she realised everything she'd be giving up if she stayed with him, and returned home to find a nice Shadowhunter boy.

But then the months grew into years and it became more than just another relationship. He saw that past her beauty and bravery Em was also kind and sweet and funny and protective and intelligent and adventurous. Magnus didn't remember the exact moment when he realised that this was it for him, that all of the searching and longing and wandering had finally stopped, that she wasn't just one of his life's loves, but the love of his life. All he knew is that he had fallen deep, and there was no going back now.

. . .

Em stayed for another hour and a half, to watch the sun rise over the river, washing the water with a pale, yolky light. Then, deciding she couldn't put it off for any longer, she started the walk home. She had been due back over an hour ago anyway. Magnus might have assumed that she'd had some particularly resilient patrons at the bar, but his party would be finished by now and if she stayed out any later he'd start to worry.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see him, Em thought as she watched the other people who were out this early; commuters, joggers and those who were clearly making their way back from a night out, she just hadn't really managed to get her head around the situation yet. Their whole lifestyle revolved around being able to jet off to another country at the snap of a finger. The only real responsibility either of them had was their work, and even that had always been flexible at most. How were they going to change everything to revolve around a tiny new person, who needed school, friends, a family and stability? As much as Em could tell, Magnus had lived his whole life on the principle that if it wasn't fun, fabulous or exciting, it wasn't worth wasting time on. Were babies fun?

As she approached the apartment block the evidence of last night's party was everywhere. The ground was littered with large pink petals, which someone had obviously dumped off of the balcony while highly inebriated, a string of dimming fairy lights hung down from their kitchen window and a young werewolf couple were giggling deliriously as they tipsily tried to make it down the street without holding on to the wall.

"Shhhh, they're at it!" the girl said with a conspiratorial wink to Em, before breaking into laughter which she inexplicably tried to hide behind a large leopard print purse. Her boyfriend threw Em an apologetic glance and then promptly slipped on one of the petals, going down to his knees with a thud and whacking his head on the brick exterior of the apartment block. Em stopped for a moment to help him up and check for a concussion before sending them on their way and heading into the building.

The doorman smiled politely as he opened the door for her, it was a nice building. Usually, in these kinds of buildings, they'd get snippy if you invited guests over or had the kind of parties Magnus liked to throw, but he'd been a resident for a long time and always cleaned up after his guests. Em suspected the little magical favours he did for the owners of the building and the soundproofing charm they had on their apartment went a long way to helping the other residents turn a blind eye to the proceedings too.

She made a mental note to tell Magnus about the petals in the street as she rode the elevator up to their floor. There was a funny coppery smell in the hallway too which grew stronger as she neared their apartment, but no visible blood, so Em chalked it up to the presence of vampires and maybe the flower-shaped blood fondue which was no doubt starting to congeal by now. She took a deep breath, gagging slightly on the smell before she opened the front door and walked in.

The loft was hot, humid and shrouded in darkness. It had the unmistakable after scent of a party, sweet and salty, with a sickly floral edge contributed by the rapidly-wilting decorations. Em flicked on the light switch next to the door and froze.

On the sofa, sweat glistening across his bare shoulders, hands bunched passionately in golden hair was Magnus, kissing Jace Herondale.


	3. Blue Sparks - Chapter 3

Em had never been shot, but she imagined if she had it would have felt like this. Pain and shock rippled through her entire body, crashing in paralysing waves as she struggled to breathe. Her legs felt like lead. As soon as they'd noticed the light, Magnus and Jace had sprung apart. Jace was sat on the sofa, shaking his head groggily, while Magnus, now standing, had turned to face Em. He stared at her for a moment in horror and then started towards the door.

"Em, I..." he began. Em's body unfroze. She backed away from him with Nephilim speed, stopping only when she hit the door frame with a dull thud. He paused, his eyes wide with shock and confusion. Em felt anger bubble up inside her. How could he do this to her? Now, when she needed him. How could he betray her?

"Don't come near me," she said, straining to keep her voice low and level. "I don't want you near me". He blanched at her words, flinching as if she'd screamed them. His hands clenched at his sides, sending a spray of stray sparks onto the wooden floor ,but he didn't move any closer.

"Is this your girlfriend?" Jace piped up from behind Magnus. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I'm usually more discrete with my affairs". He sounded drunk. No surprise there, Em thought.

As Magnus spun around to face him she stalked away from them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the warlock twirl his fingers in an agitated manner, conjuring a blue ball which he threw into Jace's chest. He sat up a little straighter, blinking. When she reached the bedroom Em slammed the door shut with a force that shook the entire door frame. She grabbed her stele out of her bedside table, drew a hasty closing rune on the wall and then went over to the wardrobe and started pulling out clothes. A few moments later Magnus knocked on the door.

"Em, please open the door." his voice was muffled. When she didn't answer he tried the doorknob which shook but didn't give way. A minute later a series of blue sparks fizzled through the keyhole, but they were as ineffective as the doorknob. "Emmeline, please?" He said her name sadly.

Em felt a jolt of sympathy, which was quickly extinguished. She wasn't the one who had been making out with Jace Herondale in their living room two minutes ago. She grabbed a large black duffel bag out of the cupboard and stuffed her clothes into it, along with her toothbrush, laptop and favourite seraph blade. Zipping it closed she glanced once around the room and then walked over to the wall, erasing the rune with a swipe of her stele.

Magnus almost fell through the door. He righted himself and then froze when he saw Em with her bag. At some point he'd managed to find his velvet jacket and was now wearing it buttoned up wrong, though he didn't seem to notice.

He pointed to the bag. "What is that?" He asked quietly. Em brushed past him and walked calmly towards the front door. The living room was now empty, Magnus had obviously gotten rid of Jace. "Em", the warlock said, a panicked edge rising in his voice, "what are you doing?" She ignored him and reached for the doorknob.

"TALK TO ME!" suddenly a web of crackling blue electricity spun its way across the door, blocking Em's way. She spun around to face him.

"What?" she narrowing her eyes. "Breaking my heart isn't enough, you're going to trap me in here with you too?" He looked back at her, shocked.

"But Em, you need to let me explain, I didn't mean to -"

"No", she interrupted tiredly. "I don't need to let you do anything Magnus. Right now I don't owe you anything." She closed her eyes, dangerously close to losing the resolve that had just about stopped her from collapsing into a hysterical, sobbing mess. "Let me go, please".

Magnus studied her face sadly for a minute and then waved his hand, dissipating the net of magic. Em turned and without looking back, left the apartment.

. . .

Magnus watched in shock as Em walked away from him, slamming the door after her. He was still trying to extract the last couple of minutes from the scrambled mess inside his head. The last thing he remembered was at the party, it had been coming to an end and Jace Herondale had approached him to ask if he'd be interested in taking on a job for the New York Institute, something about summoning a demon to get information for a case. After the rest of the guests had left they'd sat down to talk about it over a couple of drinks. Next thing he knew Em was standing by the door, he was on top of Jace and his beautiful velvet jacket was on the floor.

Magnus strongly suspected that the drinks had been tampered with, probably by one of his faerie guests. They loved to play with other people's relationships and emotions, the messier and more complicated the better. Destroying his life would be no more than an evening's entertainment to them. It would explain why Jace had been so bewildered after as well, mortals had more of a reaction to fae magic than warlocks or vampires. Magnus had cleared his head with a quick healing spell and sent him on his way before he could say anything else to Em. Not that it had done much good.

He dropped onto the sofa and cradled his head in his hands. He was over four hundred years old, he should known better than to drink something that had been left out. Hell, he was a powerful warlock, he should have been able to resist the spell. Maybe he could have if he hadn't been so drunk already. Maybe he would have been able to think of something to say to Em too, anything to get her to stay. It had all happened so quickly.

"What have I done?" he said aloud as he massaged his throbbing temples.

. . .

Em strode down the hallway, ignoring the copper smell, and pushed the button for the elevator. The doors opened with a ping and she stepped in.

"Well, this is awkward," said a voice from behind her.

Perfect. Just perfect.

She turned to face Jace Herondale. He looked a little dishevelled, the black shirt he'd been wearing was missing a few buttons and his hair had been ruffled out of place. Em grimaced, remembering it was Magnus' hands that had done the ruffling. She turned away from him and pressed the button for the lobby.

"We didn't do anything you know." He said, running his hand through his hair. "I mean, we did… a bit. But not that. I know it kind of looked like we maybe had, but we didn't. It was just …kissing." He trailed off as Em shot him a withering look.

"I'm not gay by the way" He blurted out. She looked at him again. "I know, shocking right, with my impeccable fashion sense? My brother is. And his husband, of course," He flashed her a smile. "They're actually on their honeymoon at the moment, that's why I came to ask Magnus about the job for the Institute. Alec's Head of the Institute so usually it'd be him, but he's not here so it was me." When Em didn't respond he continued. "Actually I think we may have been drugged by the faeries, I saw them offering some very suspicious-looking cocktails to one of the vampires at the party. God knows what they put in the rest of the drinks." He shrugged.

"I know," Em said.

"You do?" He looked surprised. "Because you were yelling at Magnus like he had actually cheated on you. Not that I'd blame him of course," he winked. "Few can resist my charms".

"I'm sure," Em rolled her eyes and turned to face him full-on. "First, I didn't yell at Magnus. Second, it was obvious you were drugged but that doesn't change the fact that I just walked in on you and my boyfriend playing tonsil hockey and third, faerie love potions bring out your true desires, they can make you act without inhibitions but they can't enchant you to do something against your will."

Jace shifted on his feet nervously. "Wow. I'm going to have to have a very uncomfortable conversation with Clary when I get back".

"Don't worry," Em raised an eyebrow at him, "With someone as utterly shallow as you, I'm betting the only thing they picked up on was your vanity. Getting the most powerful person in the room to make out with you is probably quite the ego trip". The lift pinged open and she stormed across the lobby, leaving Jace to massage his bruised ego.

Em exited the apartment block, walked three blocks to the nearest hotel, booked a room with a nice view and rode the elevator up to it in blissful silence. Once she was safely inside her suite she threw herself on the bed and cried her eyes out. Some hours later, after the tears had stopped falling and her whole body ached from sobbing she picked up her phone, dialled the London area code and waited. After three rings a voice on the other end answered.

"Tessa," she said into the receiver, "I need your help".


	4. Blue Sparks - Chapter 4

FLASHBACK

"Tell me what this one is from". Magnus ran his fingertips over the soft silver line on her collarbone.

They were lying on a decadently large chaise lounge in their hotel suite in Paris. Em was flat on her back while Magnus lay propped up on his side next to her, one hand supporting his head, the other tracing the many silver scars on her arms and shoulders. The windows next to the chaise had been thrown wide open and Em could smell bread from the boulangerie downstairs on the night air. It was a little cold out, but Magnus had laid a heavy silk coverlet over them to stave off the chill, and besides, Em was quite happy, lying there enjoying the sounds of the street outside and listening to Magnus talk.

She had only known the warlock for a few weeks but they had already been the most exciting weeks in Em's life. After stopping off in Brooklyn to tie up some loose ends, Magnus had portaled them to his favourite hotel, just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. It was a charming little place with cosy rooms filled with ornate gilt furniture, baroque wallpaper and comfy beds. Magnus had unpacked their belongings with the snap of his finger before assuring her that it was perfectly safe to be visiting Paris with him as almost everyone he'd known last time he was here was now dead. Em wasn't sure if she thought that was as comforting as he'd meant it to be.

"A short-sword when I was ten," she smiled up at him, ruefully. "A little souvenir from one of my training sessions". Magnus winced. He knew Shadowhunters were warriors, but something about giving children sharp pointy weapons and making them fight still seemed a bit wrong. He moved his hand upwards, enjoying the sensation of sliding his fingertips across her cool, soft skin.

"How about this one?" he traced a small oval shaped mark on the base of her neck.

"Oh, that one", Em shifted uncomfortably, "I got it when my parents… you know". Magnus drew his hand back.

"I'm sorry", he said, "I thought it would be from a vampire raid gone awry or a near miss with an overzealous boyfriend". They hadn't really discussed how Em's parents had died, Magnus knew she'd been sent to live with Tessa when she was twelve years old, but he hadn't had the opportunity to go to London to visit his old friend during the time Em was with her. Not until a couple of weeks ago anyway.

Em shook her head "It's fine", she glanced away, out of the window, "I don't mind, it's not a subject I usually avoid". She looked back at him and touched her neck self-consciously. "One night we were driving to the movie theatre," she began softly "a truck swerved from the other side of the road. It hit our car and we went over the side of the barrier." Magnus watched her, yellow eyes curious. "My parents died on impact but I was in the back seat so I didn't." She shrugged, "They weren't really what you'd call active Shadowhunters so the local Institute didn't know we'd gone missing. The mundane paramedics sent me to the hospital as a Jane Doe and I woke up a couple of days later. As soon as I could talk I told them my name and who to contact." Em smiled a little. "When Tessa arrived she gave me so many Iratzes the damage healed up instantly, but I still had one of the drips in my neck at the time, so this one never really healed over" She trailed off.

Magnus looked at her for a moment and then reached over to remove her hand. He touched the edge of the scar gently. "Then this is my favourite one," he said, gazing down at it.

"Why?" Em questioned.

"Because", he smiled "over the last few hundred years I've developed a theory and this proves it. The scars that take the longest to heal are the ones that are the smallest." He leant and kissed her neck. "Or the ones that you can't see at all" he added, bending to kiss her again.

Em looked up at Magnus, hovering above her and saw centuries of sadness reflected back at her in his eyes. It was at that moment she realised how completely and irrevocably in love with him she was.

She pulled him down to meet her lips.


	5. Blue Sparks - Chapter 5

Em woke to find Tessa asleep in the chair next to her bed. She sat up carefully and climbed out, taking care not to rouse her, before walking across the room and peering out of the window. The sun had recently set, leaving rays of rapidly-dimming orange light streaming across the street below. Tessa must have portaled into the neighbourhood sometime during the day and let herself into Em's hotel room without waking her.

She watched Tessa for a moment, tucked into the chair, legs curled up under her. Her head was resting on her arm, dark hair spilling forward to obscure her face. When Em had originally been sent to stay with Tessa she had seemed much older. Younger than Em's mother had been but definitely old enough to be an Aunt to a twelve-year-old. She'd visited Em and Magnus regularly since Em had left home and recently they'd been mistaken for sisters on their nights out. But with Tessa's delicate features, petite frame and smooth skin Em could see that she would soon out-age her relative.

Em's grandmother had been a lost Shadowhunter, one who lived as a mundane and had no knowledge of the Shadow World. When Tessa discovered that she had an extra branch to her family tree she'd tracked her down and explained her heritage. She'd kept in regular contact through the years, visiting Em's mother and then Em herself. After the accident, Tessa had been the only family she had left.

She grabbed the throw off the bed and placed it over Tessa before heading to the adjoining bathroom to run herself a bubble bath. When she emerged, perfectly clean and wearing a pair of her own pale purple satin pyjamas Tessa was waiting for her.

"Emmeline," She rose and embraced her in a warm hug, "Oh my poor sweet girl, how are you? How are you feeling?".

"It's ok Tess," Em smiled as her guardian stepped back and gave her a once-over. "I'm ok".

"You are most certainly not ok", she chided. "We have no idea what's going on. You could be in danger!" Her voice quivered delicately at the thought. "We need to get to the bottom of this, quickly". She retrieved a small leather travel bag from the foot of the bed and fished out her phone. Em watched her curiously, Tessa's use of modern technology was a recent thing. Being a warlock and over one hundred and fifty years old, she took a little while to adjust to new customs.

"I called Catarina Loss," She said, scrolling through her messages, "I hope you don't mind". Em's stomach dropped. Catarina was one of Magnus's oldest friends, she was sure to tell him about her... condition. Tessa pocketed her phone and scanned Em's expression. "It's OK, She's arriving in an hour and I didn't mention anything about you. I know Catarina, once she arrives she'll want to help you and she's very strict when it comes to Doctor-Patient confidentiality. She'd never tell Magnus anything without your express permission. I promise Em, we can trust her".

"Good", Em nodded, watching Tessa replace her bag "Because I don't want Magnus to find out".

"I know," Tessa agreed, "we need to work out what's going on first".

Em shook her head. "No", she said, "I don't want Magnus to find out at all". Tessa's head snapped up.

"Em," she began, moving towards the younger girl "I know he hurt you, but he was under the influence of faerie magic, you really can't hold him accountable for that."

Em nodded in agreement. "I'm not mad at him for kissing someone else," she explained "I'm trying to stop us both from being miserable. I don't think I'm what he wants anymore."

Tessa's eyebrows shot up in surprise, she lowered herself down on to the edge of the bed. "But you love each other, you're happy. What on earth makes you think he wants anything else?".

Em'd had a long time to think about this when she'd arrived at the hotel this morning. Yes, she had overreacted. Coming home to find your boyfriend making out with someone else would do that to a person. But once she'd seen Jace's face she'd realised that they'd been spelled. Magnus wasn't really responsible for his actions last night, however hurtful, but that didn't stop Em from worrying about the motivations behind them.

That particular faerie potion was designed to make the drinker carry out one of their deepest desires and kissing Jace was something the old Magnus would have done. She knew that before he'd met her, Magnus had lived a different life, one of freedom, exploration and adventure. Spending the last few years in Brooklyn had been wonderful for Em but she'd always worried that their life together was stopping him from living as he had before, without ties and responsibilities. She didn't know if he'd grown bored of her or just of their life together but either way having a baby, even a magical one, would make everything harder.

Em knew on almost every level, that they hadn't had the chance to talk about any of this. The fae potion had pushed the issue into light before Magnus had felt comfortable bringing it up with her. But she also knew that they couldn't talk about it now, not all of it anyway. Magnus was kind and loyal and caring, and If he found out that she was pregnant she knew that he would never leave her, despite what he wanted. And Em loved him, but she didn't want Magnus to stay with her out of obligation. No, In the end, however, much it would hurt to lose him, she just couldn't bring herself to condemn either of them to a life where they would be miserable.

Em explained the situation to Tessa, who listened before shaking her head sadly.

"I can't argue with your reasoning, you know Magnus much more intimately than I do," She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "But even if he forgets you, goes on to live this exciting life free of responsibility. What happens to you?"

Em sat down next to her. "I just... live."

"That doesn't sound like much of a life."

"I love him, Tess. I can't be a burden or a regret, even for a second. I want him to be happy and live the life he wants, even if it's without me."

"Then you've made up your mind?" Tessa reached over and placed a hand on her arm. Em nodded. "OK. If we're going to keep this a secret you'll need to go away for a while, to somewhere Magnus can't track you. Jem and I have been restoring the Herondale residence outside of Idris, there's no TV of course but the wards make it untraceable and Catarina could still visit you there".

"If she agrees to help me" Em replied.

A sharp knock came from the door.

"Well," Tessa hopped off the bed to answer it. "Let's find out shall we?"

She opened the door to admit Catarina. Her pale green scrubs clashed spectacularly with her blue skin and her white hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, held in place by what looked like a tongue depressor. It must have been a busy shift at the hospital, she looked exhausted.

"Tessa," she reached down to hug her. "How have you been?"

"Well, thank you" Tessa replied politely, "And yourself?".

"Oh you know," Catarina walked into the room "same as usual, the hospital's practically overflowing with mundanes, I barely get time to -" She noticed Em sat on the bed and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. Hi Em, sorry, I didn't know you'd be joining us. Is Magnus here as well?" she looked around the room as if hoping to spot him.

Tessa glanced at Em. "Not exactly. Catarina, I think you'd better sit down."

. . .

Catarina sat silently as Em explained everything, with a little help here and there from Tessa. When they finished she took a deep breath and slumped back in her chair.

"I don't want to sound indelicate", she looked at Em, who was sat on the edge of the bed next to Tessa, facing her. "But are you sure the baby's father is Magnus?"

Tessa looked shocked. "Of course it is Catarina", she scolded her friend, "Em would never cheat on Magnus". She glanced sideways at Em, "Right?"

Catarina's cheeks flushed a darker shade of blue. "That's not what I'm saying Tess", she shook her head. "There are other ways this could have happened, look at me and you for example. Our mothers were tricked by demons who took on the appearance of their husbands, how can we be sure that isn't what happened here?"

"I have all of the normal protection marks," Em explained, she had already considered this and ruled it out. "A demon couldn't trick me in that way. And for the record," she added, "no, I have never cheated on Magnus."

Catarina eyed Tessa and Em carefully. "OK," she sat up a little straighter in the chair "I'm going to need to take some blood from you. I can test it to make sure everything is alright." Em nodded. "Then," she continued "I'm going to need to give you an ultrasound. Usually, you'd see your Doctor every month, but I think it would be wise to have weekly check-ups. If your baby is half warlock and half Shadowhunter we don't really know what to expect." She glanced down at her hands and then looked up at Em. "And just so you know, I won't say anything to anyone else but I'm against keeping this a secret. I think you should tell Magnus."

Em looked back at her hopefully "Does that mean you're going to help me?"

Catarina nodded and rubbed her hand over her eyes.

"I am the worst friend ever".

"Or the best one," Tessa leaned forward and placed a hand on her friend's arm, squeezing it.

Em nodded in agreement, "Thank you."

"There's just one more thing," Tessa paused for a moment. "Can you do an ultrasound in Idris?"


	6. Blue Sparks - Chapter 6

THREE MONTHS LATER

Magnus woke with a start. At least he thought he did, he wasn't actually entirely sure if he'd been asleep to begin with. He hadn't been sleeping well since Em had left, maybe catching an hour or two a night and a nap during the day if he was exhausted enough to fall unconscious. This seemed to have been one of those occasions. He propped himself up on the couch, unsure what time it was or how long he'd been out for. The curtains were closed, as they had been for the past few weeks so he had no way of knowing if it was daylight outside. He reached over slowly, his back screaming from too long spent against hard cushions, and flicked the lamp next to the couch on.

Bright light flooded the apartment. He stood, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, walked over to the fridge, opened it and then closed it again. Takeout it was then. He rifled through a pile of menus on the kitchen counter and pulled out a brightly patterned yellow and red one. Then he returned to the couch, grabbing his phone on the way and sat down.

This was how Catarina found him when she arrived two hours later.

"Magnus", she shook his arm gently. He'd fallen asleep sitting up, hunched forward with the phone in one hand and his chin resting on the other.

"Wha-," he started, head shooting up. He peered at her blearily and then opened his eyes wider, focussing on her face. "Catarina?"

"Forgot I was coming?" She guessed, looking around the room. The normally neat apartment was a mess. Piles of take-out cartons, empty bottles of cheap margarita mix and congealing plates of food covered every surface in the kitchen and living room. The blankets that usually lay artfully draped on Magnus and Em's bed were lying in a pile next to the sofa and the large coffee table, which once held an array of tasteful books, ornaments and brick-a-brack was cluttered with phials of half-finished potions, a pot of crystals and a large map.

Catarina picked up one of the potions and smelled it tentatively. "Tracking serum? You do realise the person you want to track has to ingest this for it to work?" Magnus shrugged, slumping back on the sofa sleepily. Catarina put the potion down and took a closer look at the map. On top of it lay a long piece of string attached to a crystal and something pink and fuzzy. Magnus seemed to have been trying to scry for Em using one of her socks. "Um, how about we get some light in here?" She said, walking over to the balcony doors. She pulled back the curtains and pushed the doors as far as they would go. Maybe some fresh air would help too.

In broad daylight, the apartment looked even worse. Catarina could see that it hadn't been cleaned since the last time she'd been here, which had been at least a month ago. She felt a pang of guilt, she hadn't realised things were this bad. She walked back over to Magnus and gasped. "Oh Magnus", she whispered looking him up and down, "are those sweat pants?"

Magnus gave another shrug and turned his attention to the map in front of him. Catarina took a closer look at her friend. His hair was limp and unwashed, his face was bare with no makeup on whatsoever, and for the first time since she'd known him, he had large dark circles under his eyes. He looked much younger and much older at the same time. Usually, she might have made a joke about his lack of style and absence of glitter, but this Magnus didn't look like he could take much more. Being mocked by one of his oldest friends might just be the last straw. Instead, she moved an empty carton of chow mein off the sofa and sat down next to him.

"How are you doing?" She asked him, gently placing her hand on his arm. Magnus looked down at the hand as if he was just realising she was there.

"I can't sleep," his voice cracked. "I miss Em. Everything is my fault, I hurt her, really really badly. It broke her. I could see it in her eyes. I hurt the one person I love more than anything in this world, more than anyone. And I can't do anything to fix it." He gestured to the table, "I've tried everything, none of it worked. I've been checking every hour to see if anything's changed, if the rune or charm she's using to hide has run out, but nothing." Catarina eyed the pile of blankets and it dawned on her that he'd been sleeping in here, on the sofa.

"Have you been working?" She asked.

"A bit," he shook his head. "Only the ones that are life or death." She nodded. At least that was something. However depressed Magnus felt, at least he was still helping people. She watched as his eyes, already red with exhaustion, filled with tears. Magnus never cried.

"I haven't seen you like this since Etta" she told him. Etta had been one of the mundanes Magnus had dated most recently. She was also one of the mundanes he had seen die of old age. It was a loss he'd taken very hard.

Magnus smiled at her sadly. "It's worse," he sucked in a shaky breath then let it out with a soft whoosh. "I loved Etta, I really did, with my whole being. I've seen so many people who I've loved die and every time it's like it's happening for the first time again. Every loss has been as great as the one before it and as painful. I've never forgotten any of them, not a single one, I've carried them all with me, Etta and Will and Camille and James and so many others. But with Em..." He sighed. "With Em, it's the first time I haven't had to think about that. I don't have to carry her with me because, without her, there is no me. I didn't just want to spend the rest of her life together, I wanted to spend the rest of my life together."

Catarina stared at him. She'd had no idea how Magnus felt. Sure she knew he loved Em, really loved her, but he had loved people before. She watched as he turned away and buried his head in his hands as if to hide from his grief. If Em's whole reason for staying away was to give Magnus a life where he could be happy then it was now clear to Catarina that it wasn't going to work.

"Magnus," she started, "you're not going to be very pleased with me but -"

"It's ok Catarina," his voice was muffled by his hands, "I know it doesn't make anysense to you".

"No," she pulled his hands away and turned him to face her. "Em is in Idris, she's staying at the Herondale Manor with Tessa."

. . .

Magnus portaled in just south of the manor. He could see the Herondale residence less than a mile up ahead of him, rising like a great white tombstone from the lush Idris landscape. He set off at a steady speed towards the house. Magnus hadn't ever spent a lot of time in Idris, although his friend Ragnor had once owned a home not far from here. It was typically the domain of the Shadowhunters and even since the accords Downworlders weren't exactly considered welcome guests. He was lucky Em hadn't been staying within the city limits, where they frowned upon warlocks appearing out of thin air without at least calling first.

After Catarina had told him where she was he'd leapt off the sofa so quickly it had frightened her. He was set on travelling straight here but she sat him back down on the sofa and told him in no uncertain terms that he had already waited for three months, he could wait a little longer if it meant being able to take a shower and put on fresh clothes. It was just as well really, Magnus knew he'd let his appearance slip in the past few weeks and it was difficult to do the whole knight in shining armour thing in gym wear. His forest green brocade jacket and pants were really much better suited to the task.

He planned to have a few sharp words with Catarina when he returned home. Between apologising profusely and begging for his forgiveness she'd told him that Tessa had roped her in for her healing services, though she wouldn't explain why which he had found alarming, and that she couldn't break the trust of a patient. Magnus huffed as he walked towards the building, he wasn't particularly happy at being betrayed by not one, but two of his closest friends, but he understood Catarina's dedication to her craft and Tessa's to Em.

He reached the wide black door and rang the bell impatiently. After a few moments, it opened to reveal Tessa, dressed in a soft grey sweater and black cigarette pants. She looked up at him, shocked. Magnus walked straight through the door, into the hall without waiting for an invitation and then turned to greet her.

"Hello Tessa," he smiled politely, "it's nice to see you." She gaped at him, still holding the door.

"M-Magnus," She stuttered, "whatever are you doing here?"

"I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing here," he looked around, taking in the large marble entryway and straightened his jacket cuffs. "Where's Em?"

Tessa let out a groan. "Catarina," she said, mournfully.

"Yes, Catarina," Magnus agreed "the least treacherous of my friends." He paused. "Except maybe Ragnor" he added, before turning his back on Tessa and taking off across the foyer at a brisk pace. He heard the door slam as she hurried after him.

"Em's a little under the weather at the moment," Tessa explained, struggling to keep up with his long strides. "If I could just - " she was interrupted by footsteps coming from the hallway to their left.

Magnus froze in his tracks.

"Tess," Em's voice rang out. "Is that you? Have you seen my- " She broke off as she entered the foyer and caught sight of him.

Magnus stared at her, eyes wide. He'd waited three months for this moment, to see Em, to hear her voice again, to have a chance to explain what had happened and how sorry he was. But now he couldn't find the words to say any of it. He blinked slowly, as if he couldn't trust what he was seeing.

They'd discussed it so many times, how he could never give her what so many people wanted. How he could never give her a family. She had always assured him that what she wanted was him. Now, she stood in front of him, luminous, in a white cotton summer dress, arms wrapped protectively around her waist. She looked at least six months pregnant. His brain whirled haltingly and his head throbbed as if it had suddenly filled with ice. Finally, it clicked.

Tessa, who had paused and was now looking worriedly from him to Em made a funny squeaking noise. "Oh no", she began as she took in his expression "Oh Magnus it's not what you think". She took a step in his direction but Magnus, who had gone extremely pale, did the only thing he could think of.

He summoned a portal and stepped straight into the whirling vortex.


	7. Blue Sparks - Chapter 7

Em stared in shock at where the portal had been. After Magnus had stepped inside it disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived, stuttering and sputtering out of existence until only a faint tingle of magic crackled through the air. She turned to Tessa, "What just happened?"

Tessa's face was blank. She shook her head, teeth worrying at her lower lip nervously. "I, um- I think we should go and sit down."

She led them back up the hallway Em had just come from and into the parlour. Usually, this was Em's favourite room, she found the pale green wallpaper, squishy leather sofas and book-lined walls incredibly relaxing. She'd spent most of her time in Idris in here, watching the world go by from the bay window that dominated the outside wall, observing the bluebirds nesting in the oak tree directly outside or propped up with a footrest enjoying one of Tessa's many Victorian novels. Right now though, Em noted as she took a seat opposite Tessa, she didn't find the décor even remotely calming.

The older girl shook her head again as she sat down. She looked up at Em reluctantly, "Magnus found out you were here."

Em stared at her like she'd suddenly grown tentacles.

"Yes," she deadpanned "I noticed that Tess". She briefly wondered if the portal magic had interfered with Tessa's brain, she had been standing very close to it. "What I meant is how did he find out where I am?" Even as she said the words, realisation dawned on her "Catarina."

"Yes, Catarina told him where you were. I don't think she told him about this, though," Tessa waved an arm in the general direction of Em's stomach.

Em placed a hand nervously on her bump. Despite warming to the idea of motherhood over the last three months, she still felt as if her body had been taken over by Martians. It didn't help that Tessa and Catarina clucked over her persistently, making sure she didn't do anything too strenuous, boisterous or fun while she was here. Every time Em complained during her weekly check-up, Catarina had explained that none of the tests she'd run had thrown up any red flags but they still couldn't be too careful. Tessa was almost militant in following her friend's advice, so Em's activities had been limited to reading, doing crossword puzzles or, if Tessa escorted her, walking around the garden.

Recently Em had been feeling more and more like a living sideshow attraction, and the way Magnus had just stared at her did nothing to help that. Her eyes prickled uncomfortably as tears blurred the edges of her vision.

"Why did he look at me like that? I didn't do this on purpose". She sniffed a little, "I never wanted to hurt him and now he hates me. Is having a baby really that terrible?" Em was dimly aware of the fact that she had been the one who had left Magnus, in fact, if she was being completely honest she had practically sprinted in the opposite direction. Even if her actions had been to protect him, she couldn't deny that some selfish part of her had also been trying to protect herself from rejection. She probably didn't have the moral high ground in this situation but right now she felt sad and tired and a little too hormonal to care.

Tessa stood up, concerned but not surprised by Em's sudden waterworks, it wasn't the first time she'd burst into tears over the past couple of weeks. She sat down beside her and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. Em leaned into her. "He doesn't hate you", she rubbed her arm soothingly, voice calm, "he thinks you cheated on him". Em's eyes flew open and she jerked away.

"What?"

"Well look at it from his perspective," Tessa raised her eyebrows. "Magnus knows warlocks can't reproduce – usually can't reproduce" she corrected when Em glanced pointedly at her midriff. "You left him three months ago and here you are six months pregnant. The only way that would be possible in his mind is if you'd either managed to fall pregnant in the future and then travel back in time-" she noticed Em's curious expression, "not possible by the way, or if you cheated on him six months ago."

Em's despair was quickly being washed away by panic, "But I didn't!" she protested.

"I know that, but Magnus doesn't. Catarina clearly left that part of the story out."

Em was silent for a moment. Right now most of her wanted to just forget the past twenty minutes and stay in the safe confines of the manor, hiding and reading books, but the other part of her brain, the annoying bit, said she couldn't do that knowing Magnus was probably at home questioning their entire relationship. If he even cares, said a small voice in the back of her head. She shook it away, he'd looked hurt when he summoned the portal and you feel hurt if you don't feel anything to begin with.

She glanced at Tessa, "Can you get me to Brooklyn?"

. . .

Magnus strode blindly out of the portal and into his apartment. He walked through the rooms, searching aimlessly for a few minutes and then returned to the living room, dropping onto the couch with his head in his hands. It was empty, Catarina must have disappeared after he'd left, although not before tidying the place up. The collection of takeout containers had miraculously found their way into the bin, along with the potion phials, bottles and restaurant menus. He fleetingly considered summoning her back here and then just as quickly decided against it. He wanted to be alone and in this mood, he'd only end up shouting at her anyway.

He realised now, which was a little too late in his opinion, why his blue-skinned friend had refused to tell him what kind of medical care she was giving Em. The look of horror on his girlfriend – no, he corrected himself mentally - his ex-girlfriend's face was enough confirmation. All this time he thought she was avoiding him because of what he'd done. It never once crossed his mind that she just didn't want him anymore.

Really, he chided himself, staring balefully through his fingers, he was stupid for thinking it would turn out any other way. He'd convinced himself that his feelings for Em made this time different but he couldn't give her a normal life or a family and in the end, that was always what it came down to. He squeezed his eyes tight, refusing to let the tears that were threatening to spill over fall, and took a deep, slow breath. It was time to get drunk.

As Magnus made his way across to the kitchen he noticed, with mild annoyance, that Catarina had also removed all of the margarita mix from his apartment. He waved one arm, absently and a dozen full cocktail glasses appeared on the counter. After these were gone he'd summon more and more until he either felt better or was too drunk to care. He didn't really mind which, both options were a clear improvement on his current state.

He dragged out the stool next to the island, the one Em used to sit on whenever she watched him make brunch and settled on it. He'd managed to down almost four cocktails before the doorbell rang. He cursed as his arm jerked, sloshing the rest of the liquid over the side of the glass. He wasn't expecting guests and no one had rung the buzzer downstairs. It was probably Catarina coming to check on him, he'd given her a spare key but she must have left it here. He cast a wary eye around hoping to catch a glimmer of bronze, then picked up his fifth glass and walked over to the door.

He noticed that his thoughts had started to take on that fuzzy, shapeless warmth he associated with cocktails. Maybe it was good Catarina was here, shouting might make him feel a bit better and she definitely deserved a piece of his mind. He yanked the door open "Catarina," he bellowed "WHAT the hell did you think you were-"

He broke off, almost dropping his glass.

"Hi Magnus," Em looked petrified. "Is this a bad time?" her eyes strayed from the frozen expression on his face to the cocktail in his hand. He shook his head mutely, blinking at her. "Uh, then can I come in?"


	8. Blue Sparks - Chapter 8

Magnus stared at her silently, hand still clutching the cocktail glass. After a moment he moved away from the door, allowing her to enter. Em let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding and stepped into the familiar room. Everything looked pretty much the same as it had done a few months ago when this had been her home too, except - her eyes swept the kitchen counter taking in the row of empty glasses. Great.

Maybe coming straight here wasn't the best plan. Em had been so worried about Magnus having the wrong idea she hadn't really paused to think things through, just thrown on a jacket and asked Tessa to summon a portal. Her guardian had offered to come with her but she really didn't want an audience for this conversation. After ten minutes of warning Em not to 'overexert herself' Tessa had finally agreed to let her come alone. Or almost alone.

Em frowned as a tiny kick nudged her abdomen and placed a hand over the spot, rubbing as if to quiet the baby. She stopped when she noticed Magnus, who had closed the door and was now watching her, look down at her hand in surprise. He caught her eye and washed the look from his face before gesturing to the sofa.

He settled himself in the armchair opposite as Em perched cautiously on the edge of the cushion and then cleared his throat. "Would you like something to drink?" She glanced at the cocktail glass in his hand and his eyes widened slightly. "Ah – no," he snapped his fingers and it was replaced with a to-go coffee cup. "I meant something more like water – or tea?" his eyes travelled down to her stomach again before meeting hers calmly.

Em shook her head "I didn't come here to drink tea." Magnus leant forward and set his coffee down on the table between them. "I need to talk to you. I'm sorry for – well, I'm sorry for a lot of things really, I owe you a lot of apologies Magnus. I just didn't know how to... how to tell you about…" she trailed off pathetically. Saying the words was a lot harder than she'd expected, especially with Magnus staring at her like that.

Aside from the brief moment of shock, nothings else had crossed his face since she'd entered the apartment. Em had expected shouting, or swearing or something. But at the moment he looked like he was sitting with an exceptionally boring acquaintance discussing weather patterns, rather than the woman he'd been binge drinking to forget two minutes ago. Maybe he'd already drunk too much, maybe she should come back tomorrow once he'd slept it off.

"I'm sorry," she shook her head slowly, taking in his closed expression. "It's late, I should let you-".

"Your affair?"

"What?" his question took her by surprise.

"Isn't that what you were going to say?" Magnus' forehead creased almost imperceptibly. "That you didn't know how to tell me about your affair?"

"N-no," Em stammered hesitantly, "I wasn't, I didn't have an-"

"So you weren't going to tell me about it?" he interrupted again.

"What? No, I didn't have an-"

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" his eyes narrowed accusingly. Em was starting to realise that Magnus' careful expression hadn't been because he was drunk or bored, but because he was trying to control his temper. He was furious.

"Or is that why you left?" his eyes flicked downwards again. "Because you knew you couldn't keep it a secret and you figured it would be easier to break up with me than to admit you cheated on me?" He stood up. Before Em could follow him he walked quickly to the kitchen and then back again. She jumped when he slammed something down on the coffee table.

"This," he said, pacing in front of the chair. He pointed to the table "This is what I've spent the last three months doing." Em looked down at the map, it was covered in tiny scribbled notes, sections of some of the countries had been crossed through with thick red pen. She looked up at him in horror.

"I've been searching for you Em." He was pacing faster and faster now, sparks flying from his fingers, voice cracking. "I spent THREE MONTHS looking for you. I thought I'd done something wrong, I thought I'd ruined the best thing in my life and the whole time. THE WHOLE TIME you just couldn't be bothered to TELL ME YOU DIDN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE!" He yelled the last bit and a flurry of blue sparks leapt from his fingers. Em jumped as the bulb in the lamp next to them exploded with a sharp pop.

Magnus started at the noise, he shook his head as if dazed and then looked over at Em. Under his gaze, she realised she had grabbed a throw pillow and was clutching it tightly over her lap. He held up his hands warily and collapsed into the armchair.

"Magnus-"

"No." His voice was quiet now. "I can't. I can't do this Em." He ran a tired hand over his face then turned his sad eyes towards her.

"I didn't ch-"

"I wouldn't have made you leave, you know. If you'd wanted to stay. I would have forgiven you." He shook his head. "We still could have been a family. But you lied to me. You left me."

For the first time that evening Em felt a flicker of hope, "Magnus, please, just listen to me-"

"Go home Em. I'm angry, but I can't yell at you when you're like this-" his eyes wandered to her stomach again and then to the throw pillow. "Just go back to Idris and I can-"

"MAGNUS!" his head snapped up. Em took a deep breath, "Look, I know you're angry, I'm sorry for yelling at you - you deserve to do all the yelling, but I'm just so sick of people treating me like I'm made of glass, just because the baby's magical. Catarina and Tessa have been driving me -" She took another breath. "Sorry, that doesn't matter right now. I'm just really sorry for leaving you, I didn't cheat on you, I didn't have an affair. I just panicked, I didn't know what to do or how to tell you. And I love you, I love you so much, I'm sorry I left, I messed everything up and-"

"Magical?"

Em stopped, mid-rant. Magnus' face was frozen in confusion. "Your baby is magical?"

"Uh, yes. Actually, it's half magical," she looked at him expectantly "It's half warlock." Magnus just stared back at her. "It's not my baby," Em continued, "Well, I mean it's not just mine. It's our baby."

Em didn't think it was possible for Magnus to look any paler than he had at the manor. She was wrong. His eyes widened and the colour drained from his face. He leaned back, gripping the arm of the chair. "But you… but I can't Em."

A shadow crossed his eyes, he leant forward again with a pained expression "Em, you can tell me the truth. Did a demon-"

"No," Em shook her head, "God what is it with you and Catarina?" When his expression didn't shift she elaborated. "Catarina asked the same question, but no," she said, her voice gentle "It's your baby Magnus, I know it seems impossible but Cat ran every test she could. It's half Shadowhunter, half warlock."

"How?" he whispered.

"We don't quite know," Em said, "Tessa thinks maybe it has something to do with being related to her, she's the only warlock on record to have children so I'm not strictly 100% Shadowhunter, to begin with. And Cat said it's rare for a warlock to… date a Shadowhunter, let alone be in a relationship with one for a long period of time. It didn't exactly happen easily, I mean it took us almost ten years."

Magnus didn't respond. Instead, he continued to stare at her, the pain on his face turning slowly to shock.

"Magnus?" she leant forward slightly, but he didn't seem to hear her.

It was a lot to take in, Em knew that, but seeing him frozen sent a sharp jolt of disappointment through her stomach. Part of her had been hoping that he'd be at least a little supportive, even if he couldn't bring himself to be happy about the situation. Then again she'd lied to him, hidden things from him, hurt him. She really didn't have any right to ask anything of Magnus right now.

"I'll, um - I'll let you get your head around all this," she waved an arm vaguely and stood up from the couch. He stayed stuck on the chair. "If you need anything, just call me," she finished lamely.

Em tugged the zip of her jacket, which she'd never bothered to take off, closed and walked to the front door. She'd been stupid for thinking this was going to go any other way.

She was wondering how long it would take Tessa to come and get her when she heard footsteps behind her and a pair of strong arms linked around her waist. As Em turned in surprise Magnus placed a hand under her chin, gently angling her face upwards and then she felt his lips crash against hers. The force of his kiss pushed them both backwards into the door frame. She gasped as they hit it, breaking away only for Magnus to pull her closer again, twining one hand into her hair and the other gently cradling her waist as his soft lips pressed breathlessly against hers. A few minutes later they both broke away, gasping for air.

Em looked up into Magnus' gleaming yellow eyes.

"A baby." He beamed down at her still stroking his hand through her hair, and chuckled softly before leaning his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes and smiled. "We're having a baby."


	9. Blue Sparks - Chapter 9

They slept curled up together, Em's head on Magnus' chest, one hand resting on his shoulder with the emerald green sheets sheltering their bodies. Magnus had fallen asleep stroking her hair and his fingers were still tangled in her auburn locks when Em's phone chirped from the night stand, breaking his deep, dreamless sleep.

Em's eyes fluttered open as Magnus shifted beneath her, stretching his limbs like a sleepy cat. She reached for her cell, checked the name on the screen and groaned.

"It's Tess. I need to phone her - I should have done it last night. She'll be worried."

Magnus blinked, adjusting to the dim light in the bedroom. It was a stark, cold morning. He could hear the rain lashing the windows before he even looked.

"She knows you're here. If she was really worried she'd be at the door, not texting you. She probably just wants to know what happened." He ran a hand up Em's back, stroking away the fine strands of hair on the nape of her neck, revelling in the simple pleasure of waking up next to his girlfriend.

He frowned. At least he thought she was still his girlfriend. They hadn't exactly gotten around to talking about that last night. After they'd kissed, Em had all but collapsed against him and once he realised how exhausted she was he'd insisted they retire for the evening. It seemed she'd been missing as much sleep as he had over the past few months and anyway, he preferred to discuss important matters when he was totally sober.

He watched as Em sat up in bed. She pushed the sheets down and wrinkled her nose at her very creased sun dress. Neither of them had been awake enough to contemplate changing into pyjamas last night. It was a decision Magnus was starting to regret, his slim-fitting green pants and shirt were not his most comfortable outfit.

"Um, are my clothes..?" She looked at him shyly.

"Still in the dresser," he said. He was suddenly glad he hadn't had the heart to move any of Em's possessions while she was gone. Boxing everything up had seemed too final.

She walked across the room, retrieved a bundle of fabric and headed to the bathroom. "I'm just going to freshen up," she said over her shoulder. "Then maybe we can talk?"

He nodded as she closed the door and then stood up from the bed. He was already feeling a little nervous about discussing everything. Last night had been a crash course in emotions - shock, despair, anger, relief, a bit more shock, then finally, happiness. Today probably wouldn't be any better, but hopefully they could finally get everything out in the open and decide what to do next.

Magnus pulled off his uncomfortable clothes, slinging them into the hamper as he did, and picked out a pair of soft black slacks and an oversized moss green jumper. Once he'd changed he made his way into the kitchen and put on a large pot of coffee. Then, after a moment, snapped it away and conjured a large espresso and a decaf caramel macchiato from the café down the street.

A couple of minutes later Em emerged from the bedroom, brandishing her cell phone. "Tessa is fine. I told her I'm staying here today, she said to contact her if we need anything." She took the mug Magnus offered her with a small 'thanks' and gave it an appreciative sniff.

"Decaf?"

"Of course," he smiled and walked over to the sofa. Em followed him. She'd also dressed for comfort, swapping the dress for a pair of black leggings and a familiar dark red sweater that almost came down to her knees.

She noticed him looking at her outfit "Oh, I hope you don't mind-?"

"Why would I?" He smiled over the rim of his mug. "You always used to borrow my clothes. That sweater looks good on you."

"Thanks," she said, settling across from him in the armchair he'd occupied last night. "All my new stuff is in Idris and the clothes here are a little… tight."

There was an uncomfortable pause as Em trailed off. She shifted a little in the armchair and her free hand went to the edge of the sweater, unconsciously tugging the material looser. Magnus leant forward and placed his hand over hers, stilling her fingers.

"It's ok Em, you don't need to hide anything from me. We need to talk about this, all of it."

She took a deep breath then met his eyes, her gaze level. "Ok, what do you want to know?"

Magnus smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner and released her hand. Em's whole body seemed to relax as she leant back into the chair and took a sip of her drink.

"When did you find out you were pregnant?"

"At my Doctor's appointment, the night you had your party."

Magnus' eyes widened. That explained a lot. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Em snorted, her shoulders tense. "I was going to. But then I got home and you were making out with Jace Herondale. I guess it slipped my mind."

Magnus winced. He'd had that one coming.

"Em, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, we were drugged-"

"I know."

He looked up, surprised "Then why did you leave?"

She sighed and placed her mug on the table before throwing up her hands in agitation. "I was scared, Magnus. I didn't know what to do, I just found out that I was pregnant, which was supposed to be impossible. I had no idea what was going on or how you'd react and when I got home and saw you with Jace I just felt… betrayed." she sighed. "When I locked myself in the bedroom I got a moment to think and I realised what had happened, but it didn't really change anything. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't trust you anymore."

Magnus watched as Em's eyes filled with tears. She sniffed angrily and looked down at her hands. "I know how exciting your life used to be. And I was worried for a long time that I was holding you back in some way. Making you live like a mundane."

Magnus shook his head "Em, you weren't – you didn't say anything?"

She glanced up at him "When I saw you with Jace I realised, that was what you wanted. Freedom and fun. Your old life. I knew if you found out about… this," she gestured to her stomach, barely visible under the folds of red fabric, "you'd do the right thing. But I didn't want to force you into something you didn't want and I didn't want you to stay with me just because you thought you had to. I didn't want you to be miserable."

Magnus felt a stab of frustration. He stared at Em, "But you didn't give me a chance to decide for myself?"

She blinked and a single tear spilled down her cheek. He longed to reach out and wipe it away. "I'm sorry Magnus, I was scared. I didn't know what to do and I just panicked. I made Tessa and Catarina help me - I wasn't planning on hiding forever, I just needed time to work out what was happening and what I was supposed to do."

Magnus set down his mug on the coffee table, walked over to the armchair and knelt down beside it. Em looked up in surprise as he reached over and tenderly wiped the tear from her face.

"I understand Em. You were scared, you didn't think you could talk to me, so you ran." He reached over and took her hand, gently pulling her up from the chair, then walked over to the sofa and pulled her down to sit beside him. "Me kissing Jace, it wasn't anything to do with wanting freedom."

Em looked up at him, confused.

He paused, trying to find the right words. "I've had a lot of time to think about this too. In fact, I've had a lot of time. That's the problem. I've outlived almost everyone I care about and it kills me. I never wanted to hurt like that again Em, I promised myself I wouldn't. But then I met you." He took one of her hands in his and held it carefully, running his thumb across the top. "You have to understand, I don't regret any of this – of us, for a second. But I'm scared every day. Scared of losing you, scared of what it'll do to me. It would be easier to have a fun little fling and forget about it in the morning, but I don't want that. I want you, I chose you."

He looked up from their hands to Em's face. Her tears were flowing freely now. "I love you Emmeline Blackhallow. I want this – I want our family. Will you please move back home?"

"Yes," Em said, thickly. She wiped her cheeks with the edge of her sleeve and smiled at him. Magnus leant over and placed a chaste kiss on her damp cheek, before straightening up.

"There's only one thing left to decide then," He said, his voice serious.

"What's that?" Em questioned.

He smiled, "Where on earth are we going to put the nursery?"


	10. Blue Sparks - Chapter 10

"What are you doing?"

Magnus stared at the scene that confronted him as he walked into the bedroom. Em was lying flat on her back on the floor beside the bed, her cheeks pink with effort.

"I've – uh. I've almost got – the button." She puffed between breaths, trying without luck to pull in her stomach so she could fasten a pair of black jeans that to Magnus' eyes, looked at least two sizes too small.

He watched for a moment as she wrestled fruitlessly, before walking over. "Stop," he said, looking down at her. "If you weren't already lying down I'd say you look like you're going to pass out any minute. Where are the maternity jeans you bought last week?"

Em paused her struggle and glared up at him. Magnus realised his mistake a second too late.

"These are the maternity jeans," she said, her voice dangerously quiet.

His eyes widened a fraction. "They must have... shrunk?" he replied, hopefully.

Em looked up at him from her position on the floor, button abandoned. She glared for a second longer then sniffed and averted her gaze. As she tugged her t-shirt, which had ridden up during her battle with the jeans, down over her bump, her eyes looked suspiciously glassy.

Magnus sighed. He reached down, grabbed her arms and pulled her gently to her feet. "You are beautiful," he said, tilting her face so she was looking at him again. "And those jeans do not deserve to be worn by you."

He let out a breath of relief as Em blinked and a small smile spread across her face. Last week he'd been accused of calling her fat when she'd asked to borrow his pyjama pants and he'd told her bluntly that they wouldn't fit. She'd cried for forty minutes. Magnus still felt terrible, and also slightly confused about it.

She pulled away and crossed over to the wardrobe, discarding the offending item in favour of a loose-fitting cobalt blue dress made from a more forgiving jersey material.

"Why don't we go shopping later?" Magnus suggested, watching warily as Em made a beeline to the dresser where she kept her tights – another item of what he had secretly named 'trigger clothing'. "You know I love any excuse. We could get you a pair of new jeans and pick up some things for the baby. They have a really nice stroller at that cute little boutique on the corner."

"That sounds great," Em looked up from the pile of flimsy fabric she was considering and flashed him a warm smile. "Actually," she snapped the draw shut, turning on him with an expression Magnus thought was supposed to resemble innocence. "Maybe we could go now? It's actually really sunny right now and I could do with a walk-"

She broke off as the doorbell sounded from the other end of the apartment.

"Hah. Nice try," He scoffed. He bit back a laugh as Em shot another glare his way before turning back to the tights, and went to greet their guest.

"Catarina." He smiled pleasantly as he opened the door. He walked into the kitchen, not bothering to check if she had followed him inside and flipped on the coffee machine. "Coffee?"

The door thumped closed and the warlock appeared by his arm. She shook her head, eying the bubbling concoction. "Not for me, thanks. I've got to be back at the hospital in an hour. Is the patient here?"

"If by patient you mean terrifying ball of hormones with an attitude to rival a Greater Demon? Then yes, she's in the bedroom."

Catarina snorted as Magnus grabbed a mug, poured half the coffee inside, then dumped a tablespoon of sugar into it. "A Greater Demon? Really?"

"Actually, I agree that's a bit harsh." He cocked his head to one side, considering whether a second tablespoon of sweetness would be going too far. "Most of the Greater Demons I've encountered have been positively civilised in comparison".

"It can't be that bad, surely?" Catarina raised an eyebrow.

He sighed and looked wistful, "I wondered why, when I visited Tessa and Will after they'd had children, he'd mutter darkly about the 'bad days'. I thought it was some sort of joke or something, although Tessa never seemed to take it very well." He relinquished his grasp on the sugar bowl and carried his mug into the living room, Catarina close behind.

"Em's only been here for two weeks and I'm terrified of upsetting her. It's like a roulette wheel - I never know what I'm going to get. She bounces from happy, to sad, to annoyed. Overreacts at the tiniest thing and then feels terribly guilty about it. The other day she told me she wants to do everything by hand for the baby, no magic. We got halfway through painting the nursery I added to the back room and she burst into tears because she didn't like the colour." He shrugged.

Catarina had to use all of her restraint not to smile at the bewildered expression on her friend's face. "Welcome to pregnancy," she said.

He choked ungracefully on his coffee. "This is… normal?" He looked as if it was clearly the furthest thing from normal in his mind.

"I'm afraid so," Catarina grimaced sympathetically.

Magnus didn't know if that was good news or very very bad news.

"Think about it this way," she offered, "Em's only like this because she's emotional and exhausted and her body doesn't even resemble anything she recognises right now. She just needs a bit of comfort and stability. In a couple of weeks, it'll all be over - you'll have your girlfriend back and an adorable little baby to dote on."

"Well, our baby will be adorable." He conceded, perking up a little.

"Yes, it will be" Catarina nodded. "Now shall I get Em? It'll only take a minute to give her a check-up but it's important, especially after she forgot to tell me she wasn't at Tessa's last week."

Magnus laughed, "You know she tried to trick me into taking her shopping this morning so we'd miss your appointment."

Catarina gasped, wounded. "You'd think she didn't like me or something," she said. Her tone sounded hurt but the edge of her lips curled up in amusement.

"No," Magnus replied, mildly. "Although she did call you 'Captain of the Fun Police' the other day." He laughed as Catarina's smile faltered and got to his feet to fetch Em, silently praying to any available Gods, Goddesses, angels or even demons that she'd managed to find a pair of tights that fit.


	11. Blue Sparks - Chapter 11

"I think I prefer the pink over the green," Magnus chattered happily as he wandered down the street, hand in hand with Em. "There's no point choosing anything coloured until we know if it's a boy or a girl, though - not that a boy can't look fabulous in pink," he added. "I wish Cat could do a proper ultrasound. Maybe I can ask her to sneak us into the hospital? Or we could just go neutral for now, white, grey, black. Although that whole minimalist monochrome look can be a bit-"

He broke off, noticing the glazed look on his girlfriend's face.

"Hey," He said, slowing to a stop in front of a little French café. The sunshine seemed to have brought the whole of Brooklyn out today and the small tiled outdoor seating area was heaving with couples enjoying coffee and pastries.

Em looked up at him, surprised they'd suddenly come to a halt on the busy sidewalk.

"Are you tired – because we can go home now if you need to rest?"

"No, I'm fine" She shook her head.

"Oh really? What was I just talking about?"

Em smiled at him. "Something to do with nursery colours?" she guessed.

"Mmmhm," he hummed. She was right, but he'd spent at least 80 percent of their shopping trip debating what colour they should change the nursery to, so that wasn't exactly definitive proof. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Fine," she huffed, realising he wasn't going to drop the subject. "I was just thinking about that thing Catarina said. About the baby being... unusual."

"Ah," his face clouded. "You're still worried about that?" She nodded at him and bit down on her bottom lip. Magnus sighed, "Well we both know warlock-Shadowhunter babies aren't exactly common. Shadowhunter blood is normally dominant but I don't know, he – or she, might get some of my powers too. We just need to watch out for anything out of the ordinary."

"I know all that," said Em. He looked at her curiously. "I just assumed that with Tessa being as well-known as she is, everyone would be a bit more… accepting. I didn't realise it was still such an issue."

Magnus nodded. He was going to kill Catarina. He knew the twenty-minute lecture she'd delivered during their appointment this morning would have repercussions.

"Cat's just a bit of a drama queen. She hasn't had the best of luck with the Clave and children, and some of her views are a bit archaic. It's not unusual for Shadowhunters to have more unorthodox relationships now, some even date Downworlders openly." Em nodded again. "They always considered Tessa one of their own - maybe because she didn't look like the rest of us," his yellow eyes flashed in the sunlight, punctuating his statement, "or maybe because they're racist pricks who can't possibly imagine their precious Shadowhunter blood being tainted, but she was half Shadowhunter, half demon. Our baby is different - half human, and the rest, demon and angel. Just slightly more of the demon part than the angel one. We can't expect the baby to be the same as Tessa, or to be accepted in the same way."

Em looked sad. He slipped his index finger under her chin and lifted her face towards him.

"It doesn't matter Em, none of it does. Neither of us is running off to tell the Clave about this, and the Downworlders couldn't care less. Whether the baby has my birthmark or your birthright or is totally and utterly mundane, it doesn't matter because it'll have parents who love it unconditionally – right?"

Em's cheeks flushed a little as she smiled up at him. "Right."

She tilted up on her tiptoes, leaning in to kiss him, but before their lips could meet she jerked back in surprise, frowning. Her mouth popped open in a perfect 'o' shape.

"Em-?" Magnus asked.

"Ow! The baby kicked me."

He chuckled at her indignant expression and raised his hand to her stomach, letting Em guide his palm until he could feel the insistent prodding just above her navel.

"Wow," he breathed, looking down at his hand in fascination. Even after everything that had happened over the last few weeks, he couldn't get used to the idea that there was a child in there. His child.

"I think that's baby for 'stop standing around and go buy me a stroller'."

Em laughed. "I don't know about that," she grumbled, "maybe we should be looking for a soccer kit instead."

Magnus smiled and linked his fingers with hers before pulling her down the street.

. . . 

Em's eyes lit up when she saw the stroller Magnus had been talking about. It was standing in the centre of the window display of Hush a Bye, the trendy upmarket baby boutique a few blocks from their apartment.

The stylish retro design reminded Magnus of the strollers he'd seen new mothers use in the 1960s, the type with large chrome wheels and a basket-shaped cradle on top. Although a few key elements had been updated, the material was a deep rose rather than black and there was a handy lever on the side which looked like it might do something fancy.

"Shall we go and inspect it?" He asked, grinning when Em answered with an excited nod.

They entered the shop with a welcoming trill from the bell above the door and Magnus made a beeline for the nearest sales assistant, an expensively dressed woman in her thirties with a trim figure and a sleek blonde bob, before asking for a closer look at the stroller. Apparently, this required an extra member of staff to remove it from the window, so the woman went in search of her colleague, promising to 'be back soon'.

While they waited, they browsed the rest of the store. Hush a Bye was quite large as baby shops went. Designer gadgets, cute clothes and chic baby shower gifts were artfully arranged into sections with wide, pushchair-friendly aisles. The theme of the store was strangely at odds with the spotless white walls and soft classical music humming over the P.A. system, which spoke more to the high-end nature of the up-and-coming neighbourhood. Magnus had a sneaking suspicion anyone who was unfortunate enough to visit with a sticky-fingered toddler would not be made particularly welcome.

He gravitated towards a colourful display of miniature clothes set out in a rainbow-coded fan on a nearby marble table and was deep in thought, wondering whether he could convince Em to buy a set in each colour so they could dress the baby in a different hue each day of the week, when someone bumped into him from behind, pushing him into the display and sending a stack of tiny lilac leggings crashing onto the floor.

Magnus cursed under his breath and ducked down to pick up the clothes. His assailant had the same idea, scrambling to reach the leggings at the same time. Unfortunately for Magnus, there wasn't much space under the table and the combination of the intruder's bulk and the panicked force they moved with tilted him off balance again.

"Shit, sorry – I didn't mean to do that." A deep baritone rumbled from above. A tanned hand reached into Magnus' view and pulled him to his feet.

Magnus took a moment to brush the lint from the sleeves of his jacket before looking up. The man in front of him was a few inches shorter than Magnus himself, although he carried himself taller. He was also considerably broader than Magnus, though his faded grey jeans and almost identical sweater did nothing to accentuate his stature. Magnus smirked, mundanes could be so, well mundane with their fashion choices. When his eyes travelled up to the man's face, which was admittedly beautiful, with smooth skin, dark hair and ocean blue eyes his smirk died.

Ah, he thought, taking in the black runes curling upwards from the stranger's neckline.

Not a mundane. A Shadowhunter.

A cute Shadowhunter.

This wasn't good.


	12. Blue Sparks - Chapter 12

The Shadowhunter stared back at Magnus. He shifted imperceptibly from foot to foot, uncomfortable in the warlock's gaze, and raised a hand to his head, running his long pale fingers through his dark hair in an unconscious effort to smooth down the inky wisps.

Magnus watched his actions with interest. He didn't seem like the Shadowhunters he'd met before. By trade they tended to be a cocky, self-assured bunch – probably something to do with being raised with the idea that they, as the angel's chosen warriors, were vastly superior to humans and Downworlders alike. This Shadowhunter however, seemed unsure, almost shy.

The stranger's blue eyes locked with his yellow ones and Magnus noticed with faint amusement, the way the man's breath hitched with surprise as he noticed his warlock's mark.

"It's OK," Magnus said in a measured voice, enjoying the uncertainty in the Shadowhunter's eyes. He gestured to the floor, where he had been sprawled a few moments before. "Accidents happen. I'm Magnus, by the way. Magnus Bane." He extended his right hand towards the man, who took it gingerly, encasing Magnus' warm fingers in his cool ones.

"Oh – yes. Yes, of course." He smiled, quickly recovering from the shock of finding a warlock in his midst. "I'm Alec."

Magnus frowned and he released the hand. "Not Alec Lightwood?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Uh – yes," Alec said, looking confused. His cheeks flushed a pale shade of pink, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't think we've met yet – although, I think you've met my brother?"

Magnus groaned inwardly. This was not just any Shadowhunter, this was Alec Lightwood, the recently-named Head of the New York Institute. Jace Herondale's brother, Alec Lightwood. He really should have guessed, upon closer inspection, the man looked almost identical to his parents. Magnus's eyes swept over him again, this time noting his height, dark hair and pale skin. The bright blue eyes had thrown him, both Maryse and Robert had dark eyes - although children don't always look like their parents, Magnus reminded himself bitterly, he himself was proof of that.

"I have," he acknowledged, ducking his head in agreement. "And your parents, of course." Alec nodded and gave another small smile. If Magnus remembered correctly, Alec had been living in Idris for the past few years, he'd only returned to the city recently to take over the Institute. Magnus hadn't had a chance to work with him yet. After the party, he hadn't had any further contact with Jace or any of the other Shadowhunters, and he'd hoped to keep it that way. He wasn't keen on taking on any new projects or clients at the moment, he had enough on his plate, especially with the baby due in two months.

The baby. Em.

Magnus turned his head to the side, scanning the nearby vicinity in what he hoped was a subtle manner. He caught a flash of auburn in the corner of his eye and honed in on it. Em had drifted off towards the back of the store and was examining a stack of baby monitors, totally oblivious to the exchange happening between the Shadowhunter and the warlock.

Alec seemed nice enough - for a Shadowhunter anyway, but Catarina's warnings still rang in Magnus' ears. It would be better if they could keep their secret for a little longer, until the baby was born at least. "It was nice to meet you, Alec." Magnus began, "But I must be goin-"

"Alec!" he was cut off as a familiar blonde head appeared at Alec's shoulder. Jace grinned widely at Alec, clapping a hand on the taller man's back before regarding Magnus with mock surprise. Magnus wondered how long he'd been watching them. "I see you've met our resident High Warlock?" he grinned.

"Jace," Magnus greeted him calmly, with a courteous nod.

"What, no hug?" Jace smirked at the warlock. "And after everything we've been through? Oh, how you wound me, Magnus," he said with a theatrical sigh. Alec stared at his brother, a puzzled expression working its way across his face. "What are you doing here anyway?" Jace continued, ignoring the look Alec was shooting him which even Magnus could see very obviously translated to shut up, you idiot.

"I was just in the area, shopping." Magnus lied smoothly.

Jace's eyes narrowed. "Is that right?" he said, "What a coincidence - we were too, our sister is having a baby shower this weekend. We need to find gifts."

"Congratulations," Magnus plastered a fake smile across his face. He had the distinct impression Jace was trying to get some sort of reaction out of him, but he wasn't biting. The quicker he could get away from these two, the better. "May I suggest clothes? You can never have too many, even for a baby."

Alec nodded seriously at the suggestion, while Jace rolled his eyes. "Very original," he said, blithely.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the three men and Magnus seized the lull in conversation to take his leave. "Well then, I'll let you continue with your shopping. Goodbye gentlemen," he said abruptly.

He turned on his heel and ran straight into Em.

"Magnus!" She squeaked, raising her hands to stop him from walking into her, "are you ok?". Her eyes raked over his face, taking in his uncharacteristically flustered expression. Before he could answer she looked past him, over his shoulder. Magnus saw her eyes widen as she caught sight of Jace and Alec.

"Uh- hi," said Alec, smiling pleasantly. He reached out his hand. "I'm Alec Lightwood, you must be Emmeline Blackhallow, Magnus' girlfriend - right?"

Em looked a little ruffled that he knew her name, but grasped his hand anyway and nodded politely. She glanced uncertainly at Magnus, who raised his shoulders slightly in a small shrug. Em was probably in the file they had on him back at the Institute. There weren't many other Shadowhunters in New York and only one who wasn't currently registered for active duty with the Clave. He shouldn't be surprised that Alec guessed who she was.

He turned to look at Jace, who had been unusually quiet during the exchange and stifled a laugh. The cocky grin had been wiped from the Shadowhunter's face, replaced with what looked almost like... shame?

"Jace Herondale." Em nodded towards the blonde, her tone sour. Magnus noticed Alec looking from his brother to Em, confused by the sudden change in his brother's demeanour. Magnus was confused too, he made a mental note to quiz Em about it later.

Jace glanced away from Em, avoiding eye contact. When his gaze dropped to her waist a slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. Uh oh. Magnus cringed, Em's bump was now of considerable size, but it was still difficult to make out when she was wearing loose clothes, as she was now. He'd been hoping they could retreat before the Shadowhunters noticed anything. So much for that plan.

"Well," Jace said, his voice suddenly as sticky and sweet as honey. "It looks like congratulations are in order." His eyes flashed dangerously as he looked up at the warlock. "Magnus, you didn't tell us you had such good news to share?"

Em's arms wove protectively around her waist as Alec's confused glance settled there. His eyebrows rose as he realised what his brother was talking about.

"Yes, well," Magnus said in a clipped tone. He put his arm around Em's hip, instinctively pulling her closer to him. "We've been busy recently. Lots to do, you know how it is."

"Of course," Jace replied. His voice was light but his body was tense. As he folded his arms across his chest Magnus could see the muscles coiled tightly in his shoulders, like a snake getting ready to pounce. He smirked and settled back on his heels, apparently enjoying himself. "You do know that any Downworlder or Shadowhunter births have to be reported to the local Institute, though - right?"

"Jace!" Alec hissed. The dark-haired Shadowhunter was now frowning openly at his brother, appalled by his rude behaviour.

Magnus felt Em tense beside him. He resisted the urge to clench his free hand into a fist at the thinly veiled threat beneath the man's words. Instead, he slipped it into his pocket and regarded Jace coolly. "Of course," he said, forcing his voice to stay even.

Jace let out a low, mirthless chuckle in the back of his throat. "Of course. You were probably there when they created that rule, right Magnus?" He looked over at Em once again, his gaze predatory, and then turned to his brother.

"Let's go, Alec. We're late for patrol." Without waiting for an answer he turned and stalked out of the store.

Alec floundered for a moment and then gave a half-hearted wave in their direction. "I'm sorry, I don't know… Um. It was nice to meet you - and congratulations, again." He stammered the words out in a flurry before following Jace into the street.

When the two men had left Em turned to Magnus and looked up at him silently, with fear in her stormy grey eyes. He took her in his arms and placed a kiss upon her forehead, rubbing his hands reassuringly across her back.

"It's ok," he said, "Jace was just being an idiot. It's fine."

But even to his ears, it sounded like a lie.


End file.
